Alkaloids, saponins and phenolic compounds in salt marsh plants from the Lower Saxonian Wadden Sea

Abstract

Twenty-eight plant species belonging to fifteen families were subjected to a screening for total alkaloids, saponins and phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids and tannins. BothWagner’s andMayer’s reagents were employed in the alkaloid screening. Ferric chloride solution was used to detect phenolic compounds. Tannins were detected by the gelatine-salt block test.Shinoda’s colour reaction was used to detect flavonoids. Saponins were detected by the froth method. The species investigated are characteristic salt marsh plants of the Lower Saxonian Wadden Sea coast. Five species gave positive alkaloid reactions with both reagents while four others were reactive only in one test. For the other twenty-three species the presence of alkaloids can be excluded. Ten species did not contain any phenolic compounds while eighteen showed a colour reaction with ferric chloride solution. Nine of these gave a positive reaction with the gelatine-salt block test and twelve gave positive reactions to the flavonoid test. It can therefore be assumed that at least three species contain phenolic compounds other than flavonoids or tannins. Seven species gave a positive saponin test.